Advice to start Citi 2nd Mortgage Mod or Principal Reduction

[CamaroGuy]

Hello. First of all, this is a great resource! You guys are awesome for providing this!

Ok, I'm in Tampa, have 8 rental properties and a primary residence, all underwater significantly, and am going through a divorce... I want to first focus on my primary residence which I want to keep and will be moving back into soon as my wife moves into one of our rentals.

Ok here's my deal on my primary residence:

Value: $180K
1st Mtg: $160K @ 4.75% - $1450/mo PITI - Ocwen (as of last week...was BoA)
2nd Mtg: $116K @ 7.7% - $925/mo - Citi
3rd Mtg: $15K @ 3.75% - $53/mo - SunTrust - yes, I do have a 3rd mtg somehow :-/

Gross income: Mine - $6500/mo Hers - $3800/mo - but we're divorcing and it will be just me. Will that help with HAMP?

I'm ok with the first mtg...it was a recent 7-yr balloon extension. The problem is the second mortgage. I'd like to get a mod or a principle reduction under the 2MP program, but I first need to do a HAMP mod on the 1st mtg, from what I've read. I was late a few months on the first last fall during the balloon extension but all 3 mtgs have been on time, otherwise. Will that "help".

I don't think I'll be able to make the Citi payment this month. I don't know if this will help or hurt my case. Before I make this too long and boring, can someone give me a suggestion of where to start?

- Do I make too much for HAMP or does the 31% include all the mtgs...not just the first?
- If so, should I just try to ask Citi to do an in-house mod?
- If I default on the 2nd while I pay some back property taxes, etc, and try to work on a mod, can I assume that I won't get foreclosed on by Citi?

I hope I presented this clearly and didn't miss important details. I will be sure to update here with whatever comes of this mod. process. Just hope I can juggle all this stuff w/o losing a house :-/

Thanks!

[Cat Damiano]

Hi CamaroGuy,


Welcome to the forum and thank you for joining...........

You can post the figures in the following thread to see if you would qualify for a modification on the first lien. As long as you have a valid hardship, the addition to the HAMP guidelines that went into effect June 1st eliminated the need to be above the 31 percent. Before dealing with a second lien, you should work to get the modification in place on the first lien.

Post the figures here;

Find out Now If you even QUALIFY for a Loan Workout Solution. Post Your Situation

[2late11]

Advice needed in regard to Citi Mortgage 2nd in default since Dec 2011. Applied for modification (Attorney General Settlement) with Citi Mortgage about mid March 2012. Citi Mortgage owns the loan. Received call today from Citi that they are going to charge off my loan if they don't receive one regular mortgage payment by the end of the week. I am presently working with ASC Wells Fargo for mod on 1st mortgage since the end of May, investor owned, through HAMP.

My question is should I pay the payment to prevent Citi from charging off the loan in hopes of getting a mod with ASC? I was advised that I may have to keep paying my regular payments to avoid the 180 day charge off and they said they would not know when they would have their decision, may be next month, maybe not. I know charge off goes to a collection agency but does Citi Mortgage still own the loan after charge off and would I be able to settle with Citi after charge off? I was hoping for modifications not this. I must be missing something. How do you get a mod when all they want to do is charge off to a collection agency? They said the collection agency would be much more aggressive. I estimate the 2nd to be mostly underwater and if foreclosed, they would get next to nothing. I was hoping for a mod from 1st and then 2mp for 2nd and never expected it to be charged off so early! If it charges off, I loose the great disappearing attorney general settlement mod program and principle reduction or elimination of the Citi 2nd. Would it be worth it to pay Citi every month until ASC and Citi make a decision? This will be very difficult to do being we are in a very tight money crunch now! I didn't realize that they could just charge off your loan without getting an answer on the attorney general settlement modification program. One Citi rep said Citi works with Wells Fargo and my ASC Wells Fargo rep said they don't work with 2nd mortgages!

[Cat Damiano]

2late11,


We would be unable to advise you on whether or not to make a payment, this is something that only you can decide.

In the following Q&A from Citi, there is some contact information where you can call and ask these questions about the settlement program for your second;

https://www.citimortgage.com/Mortgag...2712V2_SEO.pdf

[drowning in oc]

Hello Experts, I've been reading the posts on settling on your 2nd for a couple weeks and I am new to joining the forum. Here is our situation, which is no different than most, but still feel the need to get advice as repetitive as it may seem! We have a 1st mortgage of 562,000. and a 2nd of 148,000 (with Citi). Our current home value is 500,000 give or take a few. My husband has been unemployed for only about 3 months and could possibly be starting a new job in about 2 months. I am self employed. We have been current on both mortgages until this month which I skipped the 2nd. I guess my question is, does it look better on the hardship letter to be unemployed? Do we have to wait before sending in a settlement offer? Our savings are dwindling as I write this and I'm feeling a bit nervous. Also, we have been contacted by a company claiming they have contacts with Citi and can get the ball rolling possibly within 30 days. They want no money up front but will charge between 5k-9k only if we settle. Is this something worth looking into or is it a scam?

[Cat Damiano]

Hi drowning,


Welcome to the forum and thank you for joining........

If you have read the very first post in the strategy thread, it outlines the steps to take to achieve a settlement on the second lien.

Strategy for Settling Your 2nd

Also depending on what state you are in and if the loans are purchase money will effect the outcome as well. You do not need to hire a third party to negotiate any of this and yes that would constitute a scam especially when you could be using that 5-9k toward your own settlement results and not paying it in addition to what someone else negotiates for you.

[David Benites]

Hi Everyone:
I dont know what to do, any suggestions would be appreciated. I declared BK Chapter 13, still waiting on discharge. Did this in order to strip the lien on the 2nd mortgage and some credit card debts i had incurred. By the way my 2nd Mortgage was with Chase. The problem is i still cant afford my 1st Mortgage which is with Citimortgage. My Mortgage is $1,411.00 a month with no escrow. I have to come up every year with almost $6,000 just to cover insurance and taxes here in Miami, Florida. I make like $40,000 a year and its just not enough, with a teenager and and my partner/fiancee who does not work. By the way partner is also on the 1st mortgage. I tried a modification with Citimortgage in Feb 2011 with no luck after sending back and forth paperwork for over 2 months. But now i heard that if you have never been late on your mortgage payments there is a plan available. So i called them last week, but again they gathered all my information and said i was pre-qualified (theu said the same thing in 2011) and will send me a package by mail. So guys, any suggestions on what to do? dont want to go delinquent on my mortgage since i only owe $199,000 and house is valued at $154,000. The 2nd mortgage i guess will be stripped with Chp 13 but that will be paid off in 3 years. Please help the people in the know ??? thanks

[Cat Damiano]

Hi Everyone:
I dont know what to do, any suggestions would be appreciated. I declared BK Chapter 13, still waiting on discharge. Did this in order to strip the lien on the 2nd mortgage and some credit card debts i had incurred. By the way my 2nd Mortgage was with Chase. The problem is i still cant afford my 1st Mortgage which is with Citimortgage. My Mortgage is $1,411.00 a month with no escrow. I have to come up every year with almost $6,000 just to cover insurance and taxes here in Miami, Florida. I make like $40,000 a year and its just not enough, with a teenager and and my partner/fiancee who does not work. By the way partner is also on the 1st mortgage. I tried a modification with Citimortgage in Feb 2011 with no luck after sending back and forth paperwork for over 2 months. But now i heard that if you have never been late on your mortgage payments there is a plan available. So i called them last week, but again they gathered all my information and said i was pre-qualified (theu said the same thing in 2011) and will send me a package by mail. So guys, any suggestions on what to do? dont want to go delinquent on my mortgage since i only owe $199,000 and house is valued at $154,000. The 2nd mortgage i guess will be stripped with Chp 13 but that will be paid off in 3 years. Please help the people in the know ??? thanks

Welcome to the forum and thank you for joining...........

In order to be eligible for any type of refinance program on an underwater property you first would need to be backed by either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, which you can check here;

For Fannie Mae: 1-800-7FANNIE (8am to 8pm EST)
www.FannieMae.com/loanlookup

For Freddie Mac:
1-800-FREDDIE (8am to 8pm EST)

www.FreddieMac.com/mymortgage

[TomEason]

CamaroGuy

Thanks for your post.

If it were me, I'd forget about your 2nd and 3rd, as they're both underwater.

Except for this unfortunate caveat. Your state is one of only a few that allows a secured junior to sue the debtor for breach of contract in lieu of FCing. Hence you may want to consult with a good FC defense lawyer in your state.

Other than that, there's no advantage to applying for a 2MP. A settlement is always a better deal for the debtor. And you needn't first attain a HAMP loan mod on your 1st, if the terms are satisfactory.

You might review the settlement guide at post #1 of the following thread.

Success Stories in Settling 2nds

[drowning in oc]

Hi Cat. It's been a while since my last post. I stopped making payments on my HELOC which is over 150% under water, back in June 2012. I've had very few phone calls on it, just continue to get the same bills + interest. I wasn't worried about settling because we are so far under water and figured we had nothing to lose.
I just had a meeting with my CPA and mentioned what I was doing and asked her about the debt settlement relief program being continued through 2013. She told be that it sounded like a fine idea except, we would still be responsible for paying taxes on the amount of forgiveness because it's not a short sale and we are still living in the house. Is she correct? Did I misunderstand how the program worked? I scanned through a few posts to see what I missed but I couldn't find anything.We are in CA and have a purchase money loan. Thanks again!

[TomEason]

Hi Cat. It's been a while since my last post. I stopped making payments on my HELOC which is over 150% under water, back in June 2012. I've had very few phone calls on it, just continue to get the same bills + interest. I wasn't worried about settling because we are so far under water and figured we had nothing to lose. I just had a meeting with my CPA and mentioned what I was doing and asked her about the debt settlement relief program being continued through 2013. She told be that it sounded like a fine idea except, we would still be responsible for paying taxes on the amount of forgiveness because it's not a short sale and we are still living in the house. Is she correct? Did I misunderstand how the program worked? I scanned through a few posts to see what I missed but I couldn't find anything.We are in CA and have a purchase money loan. Thanks again!

Thanks for your post. Were you talking with your CPA about your 1st or about the HELOC? FYI, if the HELOC is purchase money, or the funds were used to substantially improve your property, then it is exempt from CODI under the provisions of the MDRA.